How We Gather Now | Love My Dress®, UK Wedding Blog, Podcast, Directory & Shop

When I was little, weddings were my personal escapist fantasy. With parents a causa di the industry, it’s hardly surprising that their ballet-going, pink-adoring daughter would be enthralled by the tulle and taffeta that seemed to swell from every magazine and mood board I’d find around our home. Con fact, I recently rediscovered my own wedding scrapbook, pressoché 2010 (pre Pinterest for me).

Notable mentions include the peacock feather shoes for my imaginary gaggle of bridesmaids, lace Louboutins for the bride, a fairy light filled venue a causa di Italy, and Taylor Swift as hair inspo (that part remains unchanged). 

The only thing missing from my otherwise meticulous planning? A paggetto. Some would call it fierce independence, others mere delusion. Both would be valid.

With these as my credentials, it seems natural, even predictable, that I would end up following a causa di my familial footsteps by working a causa di the wonderful world of weddings. But, from the helm of a new wedtech tool, what strikes me most is how unrecognisable the industry is from what I remember being immersed a causa di as a child, having watched the growth of the UK’s favourite gift list from the wings. 

It’s easy to chalk the change up to the rose-tinted glasses of youth (I.e., quand’anche childish disillusionment). While I’m sure that’s true to an extent, I don’t think it’s the only part at play. Anzi che no, there has been a definite shift: a causa di how, where, and why we marry. 

This shift is the very reason I co-founded Gather; the world’s first guest experience service, redefining the RSVP experience for guests and hosts alike. 

I believe, to innovate with intent, you have to understand the very behaviours you are trying to change, learning the rules to interruzione them. That’s our origin story: a causa di a post-pandemic world where purchasing patterns were driven by shared values, and where a new generation was coming to the fore, my dad and his team at Getting Married, the award-winning wedding website service, knew the old guard wouldn’t hold.

The patronato showed a shift away from traditional wedding websites that felt formulaic, impersonal, and often downright confusing, and towards more personalised experiences: tailored user journeys, curated aesthetics, intuitive solutions built around modern digital behaviours. Less desktop-focussed, frill-filled wedding websites, more seamless RSVPs and mobile-first celebration hubs.

More anecdotally, there was a rising undercurrent of frustration, fatigue, and disconnect. Newly-engaged couples didn’t see the RSVP problem until it was too late, then they were left chasing responses across scattered spreadsheets without a centralised tool to support them. Guests faced barrier after barrier: how to loch a causa di to the site, being redirected to external gift lists (and getting lost a causa di the process), and seeing details of events they weren’t even invited to ahead of multi-day celebrations. 

Con this landscape, our mission was simple: leverage our shared expertise to simplify guest management and create space for the joy of celebration. Removing friction and sharing insight to bring genuine excitement back to every phase of planning. Because bringing people together shouldn’t feel like duro work. 

With the learnings of the business a causa di tow, alongside my veritable status as a true Gen-Z-er, we’ll get to the roots of the industry changes everyone is talking about. From how weddings have become extensions of lifestyle, and the misconceptions resented by future brides; to the many ways personality can shine through tradition, and how printed stationery can be supplemented with digital tools to balance sentiment with function.

Together, we’ll cut through the noise to find a quiet space for the joy of celebration, and prove that rose-tinted glasses aren’t a flaw of youth, but a token of wonderment worth onto.